A Davis officer was shot and killed Thursday night and the suspected gunman was found dead in a home, police said. Natalie Corona, 22, was taken to the hospital, where she later died, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said. The gunman was found dead early Friday morning. Police said it appears he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Video: KCRA

DAVIS — Natalie Corona was ambushed. The gunman rode up on a bicycle, inexplicably opened fire, and when Corona collapsed, unloaded his semiautomatic pistol on the young rookie police officer.

The gunman reloaded and then began shooting all around him. He hit a nearby fire truck, a passing bus and a woman’s backpack. Then he chased a firefighter who showed up to the scene — and shot at him, striking the emergency responder’s boot.

That’s the account given by Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel in a news conference on Friday night.

Police still are not releasing the name of the suspect, who they say shot himself to death inside a home he lived in near where the shooting took place at 5th and E streets in downtown Davis.

3of23Just a few weeks out of training, Officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed in the line of duty, Davis police said Thursday night.Photo: Davis Police Department

4of23The house at the corner of 5th and E Streets in Davis, where the suspected shooter was found.Photo: Steve German / Special to The Chronicle

5of23Sydney Carlier, foreground, accompanied by roommates, Jenna Brouwer, center and Camille Foder, behind flag, places flowers on a memorial for slain Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks, was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, following a standoff with officers. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

6of23A cleanup crew works at the scene of the accident on 5th Street, near D Street in Davis Friday morning, January 11.Photo: Steve German / Special to the Chronicle

7of23Vicky Oliverius ties blue ribbons on trees, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, near the scene were Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was slain, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, following a standoff with officers.Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP

8of23Davis Police prepare to enter the premises where they believed the suspect who shot and killed a Davis Police officer earlier was hiding out early Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 , in Davis, Calif. Natalie Corona, a 22-year-old police officer on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash, authorities in Northern California said. (Jose Luis Villegas/The Sacramento Bee via AP)Photo: Jose Luis Villegas, The Sacramento Bee via AP

9of23Davis Police closed the area near 5th and C streets in Davis, Calif., after a police officer was shot on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019. A Davis police officer was shot Thursday night while responding to a traffic accident, and authorities cordoned off parts of downtown while searching for a suspect. (Jose Luis Villegas/The Sacramento Bee via AP)Photo: Jose Luis Villegas, The Sacramento Bee via AP

10of23Davis Police investigate the area near 5th and C Street after a police officer was shot and killed Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Natalie Corona, a 22-year-old police officer on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash, authorities in Northern California said. (Jose Luis Villegas/The Sacramento Bee via AP)Photo: Jose Luis Villegas, The Sacramento Bee via AP

11of23Flowers are seen on a memorial outside the Davis Police Department for slain Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, following a standoff with officers. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

12of23Authorities tape down the back window of the patrol vehicle driven by Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

13of23Authorities inspect the patrol vehicle driven by Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks, was shot and killed Thursday. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

14of23The patrol vehicle driven by Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona taken away on a flatbed truck, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

15of23Davis resident, Jim Sullivan, expresses his condolences over the shooting of officer Natalie Corona to officer Ted Ruiz of the Woodland Police Department.Photo: Steve German / Special to the Chronicle

16of23Mary Ann Doerzbacher wipes her eyes after placing flowers on a memorial outside the Davis Police Department for slain Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, following a standoff with officers. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

17of23Davis police lieutenant Paul Dorosov speaks to the press outside the Davis police department, amidst flowers left to memorialize officer Natalie Corona.Photo: Steve German / Special to the Chronicle

18of23Flowers are seen on a memorial outside the Davis Police Department for slain Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, following a standoff with officers. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

19of23Mourners place flowers on a memorial outside the Davis Police Department for slain Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, following a standoff with officers. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

20of23Flowers lay near the scene, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, where Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed Thursday night in in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks was killed by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a vehicle collision. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

21of23A memorial began to grow Friday morning in Davis after 22-year-old police officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed while responding to a three-car crash the prior night. Davis resident Cheryl Beck remembered Corona as a positive young woman who helped clean graffiti from a park near her home. Beck was devastated to hear Corona had been fatally shot.

23of23An image of the note found by police on the bed of Kevin Limbaugh, who has been identified by Davis police as the killer of Officer Natalie Corona on Thursday evening. Corona was responding to a routine traffic collision downtown when Limbaugh bicycled up and shot her repeatedly.Photo: Davis Police Department

“This clearly looks to us like an ambush,” Pytel said. “Based on how dark it was, we are speculating that she never even saw him.”

The attack occurred as Corona responded to a three-car crash at around 6:45 p.m. Thursday.

Witnesses told detectives that Corona was returning the involved motorists drivers’ licenses when the man opened fire. Her uniform was outfitted with a body-worn camera, but officials said they are unsure if the shooting was caught on video.

The suspect fled from the scene, prompting a large-scale manhunt by multiple law enforcement agencies.

Pytel said police were able to locate the man’s residence located at 5th and E streets by materials found inside a backpack that was dropped at some point after the shooting.

The man’s roommate later told detectives that the suspect returned to the residence after the shooting — after circling the block at least once while fleeing from police — but did not appear to act out of the ordinary. He even joined his roommate outside to watch police swarm the area searching for the shooter, Pytel said.

When officers finally surrounded the suspect’s residence, the man walked outside wearing a bullet-proof vest before returning inside the home. When he went back outside a second time, he yelled something at officers and was armed with a semiautomatic pistol. Police did not fire their weapons.

After going back inside the house the second and last time, he pushed a couch against the front door and blocked entry with a dead bolt. Officers heard a gunshot inside the home.

Officers navigated a robot inside the residence and found him dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Detectives have not determined a motive in the attack on Corona. She died hours after the shooting at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Police did not immediately provide additional details, pending the ongoing investigation conducted by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. The California Department of Justice is investigating the man’s suicide.

Corona completed her field training just two weeks ago and graduated from the police academy six months ago, officials said.

“What really hits us with Natalie is she started with us as a temp employee,” Pytel said. “She had a personality that was just energizing. She was the most friendly, outgoing, and just wanted to be everybody’s friend —and she was.”

Residents, police officers and local leaders in the college town mourned Corona’s death on Friday, dropping bouquets of flowers at the crime scene and tying blue balloons on the branches of nearby trees.